Reston Sauna Fire Extinguished By Fitness Center Employees

RESTON, VA — Maintenance workers at Onelife Fitness in Reston were able to extinguish a small fire that had started in the center's sauna room on Wednesday around 2 p.m.

"Our sauna had just opened today," said Katie Silat, the assistant general manager at Onelife Fitness' Reston location. "One of the coals started the wood on fire. That just started a small fire. Of course, we called 911. By the time all of the fire trucks came here, our maintenance had put the fire out."

Even though the fire was out, the club wanted the firefighters to check the sauna to see if the fire was electrical in nature.

"The sauna has not run for over a year," Silat said. "We wanted to make sure they came in and took a look at everything. But, everyone is safe and we have ventilation going. The doors are open. It's not really smokey in here at all. I think we got it just in time."

Onelife Fitness was open for business and welcoming customers again a short time later.

Like other fitness centers in Virginia, OneLife Fitness was closed for part of 2020 due to Gov. Ralph Northam's COVID-19 restrictions. Although the Reston club was able to reopen in June, Wednesday was the first time the club had turned on the sauna since the restrictions went into effect last year.

Units on scene of building fire in the 11400 block of Isaac Newton Square S., in Reston. Crews reported small fire in sauna room. Fire is out. #FCFRD pic.twitter.com/G3AwWhBuzt
— Fairfax County Fire/Rescue (@ffxfirerescue) May 5, 2021